Manqoba Kubheka

Manqoba Kubheka is a Chartered Accountant on a quest to make his mark in the development of internationally competitive African Businesses. Kubheka, began his career as a trainee accountant at SizweNtsalubaGobodo (now SNG Grant Thornton), and left the firm as Assurance Audit Manager having been the first to be promoted to second level manager in a single year of post article service.

In 2017, he joined SAMRO as the Manager in the CEO’s Office. His impact and involvement during a turbulent turnaround period at SAMRO enabled him to swiftly grasp the inner workings of Collective Management Organisations and the music industry’s eco-system in general. Finding the company on the brink of a reportable irregularity and qualified audit report, he steered the company to an unqualified report after having immediately developed and implemented process and reporting changes in the finance department. He also initiated and was the front liaison for a forensic audit carried out against the impaired international investments and had the findings of the report presented to the SAMRO AGM in October 2018. Having taken on demanding challenges such as Acting CFO, only five months into his time at the organisation, Kubheka’s contribution was widely noticeable.

In February 2019, he was given the monumental task of interim General Manager in the Licensing Division of SAMRO, which is the revenue generation core of the organisation. He was permanently appointed in June 2019 and has since closed numerous licensing deals including entertainment and tech heavyweights such as, Facebook, Google and Multichoice, which led the entity to revenues exceeding R500m for the first time since its inception in 1962. As a key driver of change and firm believer in recognising and empowering women, he has placed young black females in all four managerial positions reporting to him, which has contributed to his department’s outstanding achievements.

Kubheka also voluntarily serves on the Arts and Culture Trust’s board, an NPO that focuses on enriching talent and arts organisations through funding and skills development programmes. He is the Chairperson of its Audit & Risk Committee and a member of the Management Committee. His contribution philosophy is to shoulder the primary responsibility of managing entire operational aspects from strategy formulation and planning to business development, analysis, and key decision making that positively influences the bottom line.

As custodian of the SAMRO member’s interests, being the head of the organisation’s Revenue generation activities, his love and respect for the arts provides him with the fire to fuel his noble and meaningful contribution to the entertainment and tech industries.